Spring
by LunarLilies
Summary: The arctic-homed friends have come.


The spring was beautiful. The water shined with the glow of the scarlet xenothium crystals she and Gnarrk found at the cave not too far from the water display before her. It shot water from the ground into a fine mist to touch the sky. If it wasn't night time, Kole was sure that a rainbow would pop up from the water. An explosion boomed behind her. Kole threw herself to the ground and protected her neck with her hands.

"Titans! Regroup!" She could hear the echoes of Cyborg's sonic rays blasting the yellow-and-black armoured villain from the inner cave system. The spring stood still.

"I suggest you toss those X-crystals over, pronto!" A grunt. A sound of a punch.

"B! Get your green butt over here, and stop frolicking!" A thud against the wall. She could hear Cyborg's metal body sliding down the cave walls. She winced. Leaping up, she ran straight into the tunnels, abandoning the xenothium-rich water.

 _I gotta find Gnarrk._

Continuing her fast pace, Kole darted through the cave system she knew quite well. Living underneath the arctic-earth with nothing but trees, ice, and rocks gave her a hobby of mapping her home. No devices from the top world, except the necessities like their emergency radio and the Titans communicator, forced her to go exploring with Gnarrk, not that she minded. It was one of their past times. The intricate tunnel system was a breeze. It was also connected to one of the world's most prominent supply of Xenothium crystals. Upon finding the spring and cave with the crystals, Kole made sure to keep it a secret. She knew pretty well that Xenothium was powerful, and in the wrong hands, it could be dangerous. A lot of people would kill to get their hands on it.

Her feet pounded against the rock floor. A shadow floated from behind her against the walls.

"Hey cutie" A sly voice sounded from behind her.

 _Speak of the-_

"I never knew such a pretty thing could be found here in the old rocks. But then again, you sure shine like a gem" Red X threw explosives at her. Upon the force of the weapons, Kole flew into the air, only stumble and land a couple of feet away in the ground. The thief sauntered towards her. "Where's the crystals."

"Gnaaarrrrkkk!"

A big, burly brute thundered towards his pink-haired friend. Gnarrk grabbed apart of the cave wall and hurled it towards the menace. In an arrogant flip, Red X evaded the projectile. Kole grinned.

"Let's rock, Gnarrk!" Kole closed her eyes and breathed. She felt her body stiffen with structure and her mind slow to a lingering pace. Vaguely aware of what was happening around her, she could feel her friend grip her crystalline feet and attempt to smash her body into the slick, white-masked man. Gnarrk missed Red X, alot, but all Kole could feel was slight pressure on her physical self when her friend violently smashed her into various parts of the cave.

Outside of Kole's near comatose-like state, two Titans fought intensely with Private Hive a few tunnels away. A growling, green bear pounced on the villian soldier while Cyborg aimed at the enemy. Private rolled around the ground with Beast Boy, fiercely punching the changeling in the muzzle.

"Would you hold him still for three seconds BB?" He said, irritated. A grunt from his team mate followed. Beast Boy wrangled the soldier in his bear form, snarling and growling, until he turned into an eel, promptly disturbing the villain. He landed right on the poor villain's face. Shrieking, Private Hive flapped from the green, slimy animal only to roll right towards Cy, who took his shot and struck the villain unconscious with the sonic cannon. Private flumped unceremoniously into the cave ground. Beast Boy phased back, grinning.

"An eel man? That's just wrong. And in his face too," said Cyborg.

"What can I say? I'm eel-natural." said Beast Boy. The half-metal man face palmed. "Hey, where's Ko-" The wall exploded. A caped villain leapt through followed by a mad, Kole-wielding brute.

"Gnarrk!"

Red X peered at the downed soldier.

"Guess it never pays to do partnerships." He surveyed the tunnel, viewing the two titans on his right while a loin-clothed animal with a crystal club charged at him from his left. Lifting Private Hive's shield from the soldier's arm, Red X teleported out of sight with the stolen object.

Two seconds later, Gnarrk furiously slammed Kole into the spot the thief stood moments earlier. Realizing that the masked man was gone, Gnarrk swiftly glared around to see where the tricky fellow leapt off too.

"Woah there man. Red X isn't here. He disappeared. It's the Xenothium. He's not here anymore." said Cyborg, trying to ease the angry man. Gnarrk kept turning to see where the jumpy man could have gone, but he felt the crystal in his hands change into human flesh. He held Kole and shook her in frustration.

"I know. But they're right. He's not here." said Kole, gently. She put her hand to her head, rubbing her temple. She was going to have a headache later because of the phasing. Gnarrk sighed and put the girl down. "Did they find any of it?" she asked the Titans.

Cyborg shook his head. "No, they didn't find the location."

"And we kicked his butt too!" Beast Boy pointed at the unconscious villain. "It was eel-asy."

Kole tilted her head. "What?"

Cyborg sighed. "Nothing. We should get back to the surface so we can put hold Private on the T-ship before he wakes." He picked up the soldier. "Let's go." The titanium teen dragged the enemy away. The rest of the group followed him.

"I just wanted to say, thanks for coming you two. It helped a lot that you guys were here, helping me protect the crystals," said Kole, gratefully.

The two Titans smiled. "No problem Kole. When Robin got your call, he sent us to come. The rest of the team had to deal with someone breaking into a lab back home. It was nice to see you guys again too," said Cyborg.

"Gnarrk"

"Gnarrk says that he missed you guys too," said Kole. Nearly an hour and a half later, the four, plus the unconscious one, exited the tunnels and arrived at the entrance to the surface. The blue T-ship rested around this area, sitting underneath the light of the stars. The bright sun was slowly inching its way from the horizon. After, locking Private Hive up, Beast Boy and Cyborg had a discussion with their arctic-homed friend before heading back to Jump.

"Kole, Red X will definitely show up soon. He's most likely really low on Xenothium, which was probably why he didn't teleport until we surrounded him. He probably lifted Private's shield because of its catalytic properties to the element," explained Beast Boy.

"His shield?" said Kole, questioning.

Cyborg tapped his arm computer. "I ran a quick scan over Private to estimate how long he would stay out and found out that his armor is partially made out of Jufieous. It's an uncommon metal that reacts pretty strongly to unstable elements like Xenothium."

"Gnarrk" said the big man.

"You're right Gnarrk. Private Hive was probably working with Red to get more powerful. I think his suit would have more juice with the crystals we have here," said Kole. She yawned.

"You guys be careful. Call us on the communicator if anything. Red X shouldn't pop up too soon though, he'll probably wait awhile until he comes up with a solid plan. In the meantime, keep watching the caves," said Cyborg. He yawned as well. "Welp, it's been a long night. We'll be on alert for anything you send us, and we'll investigate Red X from Jump. Stay safe Kole." The tin teen lightly punched Gnarrk in the arm. "You too man."

Gnarrk smiled and punched Cyborg back, right into the T-ship. Cyborg crashed into the storage area of the air carrier. With a groan, he wobbled back out but gave a thumbs up to his arctic-homed friends. Beast Boy laughed and formed a snowball from the ground before chucking it at his team mate's face.

"Really man."

The green teen laughed. "Stay safe Kole, Gnarrk!" Yawning himself, he stretched. "Man, I'm pooped. C'mon Cy, let's go drop the dude at the jail so we can go home." He waved back at the girl and the man. "Bye!"

Kole waved back and watched the blue aircraft hover over the snow-laden ground then zoom off into the dawn sky. Her friend nudged her.

"We should go home too. And rest. It's been a long night." The friendly giant picked her up and slowly trotted back into the vegetated underground of the arctic. Tired from the night's escapade and a lack of sleep, Kole drifted off as they headed home, not realizing her change into crystal form.

Gnarrk felt the change in weight in his hands and looked at his closest friend. She was in her frozen state, only this time, a worried look was frozen on her face as well. He grunted and held the crystal body carefully, like a baby. He didn't like seeing his friend worried. He knew that the shiny, red crystals in the spring and cave were important and that she wanted them kept hidden, but he also knew that there was a twiggy, skull man who wanted to find them. He had to keep the crystals protected, for Kole.

He reached their home. A place of dark, jungle wood and thick green vines, their home was a crafted structure. As Gnarrk passed through their home, he remembered helping Kole put the place together. They gathered the wood, he slicing the trees down with her crystal body, collected the vines and managed to make this abode. It was warm and protective against the dangerous animals here, and it had little trinkets from their expeditions exploring the land they lived in. On the table, there was a rotting flower that was once pure white with a vibrate green stem. They found that looking around in the jungle. On the wall, there were bones of a small dinosaur's feet glued together in a frame. He found those when he was digging in their garden. He remembered wondering why he was picking up so many little ivory pieces of dirt when Kole stopped him and told him about fossils. On the shelf, there was supposed to be a small red crystal, picked just for Kole when he originally found the Xenothium spring, but it was gone. Kole liked that spring. She loved seeing the mist come from the ground and form into a rainbow during day time.

Putting Kole in her hammock gently and placing a blanket on her, Gnarrk grunted and moved to his side of their home. Walking back past the shelf, wall, and table, he was angered to know that the twiggy man came into their home and took his gift away. Coming to his room, a simple place with one table and a dirt floor, Gnarrk pounded the ground until it was fit to lie down on. He thought about his friend, who would stay crystallized until she woke up or stopped feeling worried. Or both. Gnarrk would be there for his friend, just like she was there for him.

-TT-

Nearly forty miles away on the surface, a distraught teen shook in the cold snow. His cape provided little insulation and his suit the same. Shivering under the dawn sky, Red X held tightly to his small piece of red crystal and a yellow-and-black shield. The darn suit was completely drained and he ended up teleporting nowhere near his new R-jet. He used it too quickly, he thought.

 _I should have gone out a little more towards the entrance of the tunnels. Idiot._

He scolded himself. If he was going to make it alive, by either getting to the jet or getting back to under-earth, then he needed to be smart.


End file.
